Working hard to make sense of it all

This past weekend, we took three Brown Swiss heifers and a Brown Swiss cow to a small fair near us. This is the first time we’ve done a fair since our oldest daughter moved to college (she’s in a coop program with Rockwell Collins during the summer) so I was anxious to see how things would go. I was also anxious as our youngest daughter would be returned from Germany on early Thursday morning after a two week stay with her host family. That anxiety got ramped up a factor of 10 when she messaged us and said they were staying an extra night in Zurich because of “technical difficulties” on the plane. Her scheduled arrival time, midnight on Thursday.

#ugh

In the meantime, I got two heifers trimmed up, found straw for this event, got the stuff needed for our couple of days (other than food, which my wife takes care of), and waited. She got home and to bed about 1:00 AM, was up at about 9:00 AM, and we were off. She trimmed the last heifer, we got the truck loaded except for a few things. We picked up the cow, got everyone up to the fair, bedded down, and all was good.

Until Saturday arrived. Our daughter started to show signs of fatigue as we walked into the barn at 7:00, not the 6:00 that she’d wanted. If we hadn’t woken her up, she’d have slept through the fair.

#uhoh

She finished fitting the heifers by 9:30 and got changed, but all ready complaining about being tired. The animals hadn’t been worked with much as she was gone a lot, so they were just as anxious as she was starting to be. Brown Swiss are some of the most docile creatures I’ve come across. When we got into this mess, we stalled next to a former student, Janice, who had a Brown Swiss cow aptly named “Tank”. She was ginormous in every sense of the work, yet, when Janice walked her, rarely was there any misbehavior.

Our animals, not so much.

We have a spring calf named Annabelle, and she just loves to run and jump and be a calf. Putting a halter on her is not hard, but leading her in the ring, keep her from dashing around, that was not easy! We have an almost yearling name Gertude, who’s comes from a good bloodline. The problem with her, she was never handled before we got her, and she’s real skittish. She’s gotten much better as we’ve done chore, pet her, and she’s seen our other heifer, Skittles, get petted and talked nice to. But, when you don’t work with your animals, it’s hard to show them as well. Skittles we had last year, and honestly, she acted like our 8th graders this year. One second she loved us, the next second she was dragging us down the barn and out the door! Then, there’s the cow, Ashia. She was shown last year as a “dry” cow, because she hadn’t calved yet, but this year, with her calf down the row a bit (Annabelle) we had to deal with a milking cow. She’s a very gentle soul, but as a heifer, she’s the only one we’ve had that I totally lost my temper. While Brown Swiss are very docile, they are known for locking their knees and not moving. My wife found me in a rage because of something she’d done, and just said, “Why don’t you take a break?”

#deepbreathsDarindeepbreaths

So, Ashia’s milk production has been between 50 – 60 pounds per day, so the decision was made not to milk her from Friday afternoon to Saturday at noon to expand her udder and show her off a bit. Not the best idea of ideas, because it’s uncomfortable, and she let us know, in her own quiet way, she didn’t like it. She didn’t run like Annabelle or Skittle, moo incessantly like Gertuide, but she wasn’t happy. At the end of the cow show, she click our daughter’s ankle with her hoof, and tossed her head, knocking our daughter over. Now, we know this wasn’t done to harm our daughter (and our daughter’s handled larger animals than her), but it did cause everyone to gasp. To her credit, there were no tears in the ring, she righted herself, dusted off, and keep going.

After that, she went home and slept.

As we brought them back, I reflected on this event, and came up with a few things to relate back to school:

Your animal has to trust you. Your heifers won’t lead well if they don’t trust you and the feelings they sense in you. Your students, they won’t perform well if they don’t trust you, period. The behaviors go down as the trust grows!

As silly as it sounds, you have to build relationships early! Ashia, Skittles, and Annabelle, myself, my wife, and our daughter could lead them in the ring with little issue. We’ve worked with them, they know us, and they know we won’t hurt them on purpose. Gertrude, we are still working with her. After this fair, she trusts us so much more than she used to, but she needs to be on a halter every day. First day of school, build the relationships! It’s not a hard idea, but how many times have you seen the “I’m here to scare you” face the first day. No! Let them know you and trust you so you can work with them when it gets tough!

Work with your animals daily. My daughter just walked by me and I asked, “Which one are you getting and walking around?” Her response: “…………..” They won’t get better if you don’t work with them. Our students, they need your attention, daily. Sometimes, it’s just a good morning, a smile, a “nice job at the concert last night”, something to let them feel noticed.

It was a tough fair for certain, but it’s one day. Sunday, our daughter woke up, smiled, was in a good mood, and seemed to have left the nonsense of the previous day behind her. She’s got two, maybe three shows left this year. We’ll see if she gets out and works with her animals or if it’s a battle. Now’s the time to get better, not in the ring.

Either that, or my wife and I get to play “catch the heifer” again! 🙂

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Darin Johnston

Just a guy from Iowa, who's suddenly found himself at a place in life he never expected to be 20 years ago! I live on an acreage with my wife, two daughters, two dogs, seven cats, chickens, two cows, and quarter acre garden.
Find me at my blog: Life of a Conflicted Teacher
https://iowaconflictedteacher.com/

I love how you connect your out-of-the-classroom experiences to the classroom. My husband, now a college art teacher, grew up on a farm. That lifestyle and the lessons learned from it have never left him.

Not really a farmer here (as our “herd” might imply), but living in the country, there are lessons all around us to be able to teach during our school day! I love that your husband’s able to see that in himself. My hope, my daughters will be the same way! 🙂

I’m sure I’m not your only reader who enjoyed a “slice of life” very different from my own. I really enjoyed learning about your day. You might choose one smaller part and write about it in more detail 🙂 There was a lot packed in there! Like other commenters, I also appreciate the insights into the classroom. Building trust, day after day in small gestures and being present- so true.

I loved reading your post. It reminded me of the 4-H fairs I went to as a child. We didn’t live on a farm, but in the country, with a goat and a big garden. We never showed our animal, but I remember walking through the tent with the cows and being glad I didn’t have to work with one of those. Reading your post makes me even more glad. And so interesting how you connected work with the animals with work with students. Everything does connect.

I agree with your last sentence, “everything does connect”. Those connections are when keep me writing, keep me watching what goes on around me, because those are the things I can pull out and use, both with my blog and my classroom! 🙂

Well, I guess I can the blog is a success! They (just like my daughter) can be a hand full, but I’m not sure what will happen when they, the herd, and my daughter (a high school senior this year) move on! 🙂

Wow! You live a very full (and wholesome) life. Thanks for sharing a unique learning experience with us non-farmers. Like everyone else who commented, I found the comparison about developing trust between your animals and your students very insightful, and fascinating. I admire you for putting yourself out there, on the learning curve, and being able to be self critical and reflective at the same time. Good work, teacher/dad!!!

Mama, Coach's wife, Teacher of middle schoolers. I value moments and believe that the small things really are the BIG things. My thoughts run deep. Life is a mess- a cozy, uncomfortable mess. But it's mine, and only I can make it happy.

Three high school English teachers share ideas, hopes, questions, fears, struggles, insights, and successes during their journey to transform their classrooms, their teaching, and their students through rigorous independent reading and writing.